Welcome to the "Pat's Ride Across Iowa" Blog!!! The last week in July of 2007, I will journey across Iowa on my bike with 10,000 other riders. We will ride 500 miles in 7 days in an event called RAGBRAI-The "Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa". Over the weeks and month's leading up to RAGBRAI, I will spend significant energy training for the ride as well as raising money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation- Livestrong.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Go the Distance

RAGBRAI 2007 stops in Dyersville, Iowa, home of the Field of Dreams and the famous line "go the distance". Today I went the distance as I covered 85 miles in my longest training ride yet. I was on the road by 5:30am and back home by 10:30am. I felt good the whole way and getting out early to beat the heat really helped.My next two weeks will be lighter training weeks as I want to begin to conserve energy for RAGBRAI week. I may actually do a little more running and a little less riding to give my seat a rest. With 1200 training miles under my belt, I feel ready to go.Apache has taken a rather commanding lead in the Dexter/Apache fundraising challenge. They pulled even with Dexter last week, gave them a quick stare and then sped past them as Lance Armstrong often did to his competition in the mountains. Will Dexter have a response? With only one week of fundraising left, we'll have to see. Overall, my fundraising campaign has gone extremely well and has exceeded expectations.Once again, THANKS to all of you who have contributed. For those of you still looking to participate, your donations need to be to me by next Wednesday, July 11th at the latest. You know the process by now, cash or check to me or Dale Sue Glass in Fairfield or to Pam Korth in Wisconsin.A big thanks to my wife Denise and to Chris Brewer at the LAF who were the first to comment on my website. Chris, I am looking forward to meeting you and perhaps spending some time riding together during RAGBRAI. For those of you who have checked out this site, don't be afraid to hit the comment button and send me a note.And finally, The Tour De France started today. You can catch all the action on the VS (versus) network (channel 72 on Mediacom in Fairfield). American George Hincapie of Lance Armstrong's former Discovery Channel Team sits in 3rd after the first day. The first day of racing was a 5 mile time trial....one of the few days in July when I'll actually ride further than the Tour riders!!! See you down the road....Pat

About Me

I'm always looking for my next challenge. An avid runner, I've successfully run numerous marathons. My next personal challenge is RAGBRAI 2007, a 500 mile bike ride across Iowa. Follow me as I train and ride across our great state July 22-28, 2007.